A 19-year-old Chicago teen, who had been missing since Saturday morning, has been found dead.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Kenneka Jenkins was found dead on Sunday in a walk-in freezer at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Rosemont. Reports say that Jenkins told her mother on Friday that she was going bowling and to a show, but she really went to a party on the hotel’s ninth floor. When it was time to leave, Jenkins’ friends said they noticed her phone and car keys had been left in a room, but they couldn’t find Jenkins.

After hours of searching for the teen, Jenkins’ friends alerted her family, who hadn’t heard from her since 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. The family began knocking on doors on the ninth floor of the hotel to see if anyone knew where she was, since the Crowne Plaza turned up with nothing on Jenkins’ whereabouts.

That is until they retrieved surveillance footage that showed Jenkins stumbling around in a drunken state near the front desk. After searching an area that was under construction, Jenkins’ body was found in a walk-in freezer that was turned on, but not in use. But what really happened to the young teen? No foul play is being suspected in Jenkins’ death at this time — however, her mom, Teresa Martin, says Jenkins’ friends’ “stories changed over and over,” leading her to believe that her daughter didn’t end up in the walk-in freezer on her own.

Video footage of Kenneka and her friends in the hotel have also surfaced online, leading people to believe that something isn’t adding up with her friends’ stories about how she wound up in the freezer:

7. Ciara McElveen

Continue reading Remember: Transgender Women Who Have Been Murdered In 2017

Remember: Transgender Women Who Have Been Murdered In 2017

Trans people, and trans women of color especially, are under attack in this country. Last year marked the deadliest year on record for transgender people, with 27 murders. In 2017, there have already been seven murders and we're only in the third month.
Considering trans women's risk of sexual violence, trans people's economic vulnerability, and trans women's often hostile interactions with police, tons of work must be done to protect and support trans people. As activists continue to organizes and communities continue to discuss, we honor the seven trans women on record who have been killed in 2017.